Ukraine warns of 'abyss' as rebel east approaches self-rule vote

Matt Robinson

Mariupol: Ukraine's interim President Oleksander Turchynov warned pro-Russian eastern regions they would be stepping into the abyss if they voted for self-rule on Sunday in a referendum that has raised Western fears of a slide into full civil war.

Barricades of tyres and scrap metal blocked streets in the port city of Mariupol and in Slaviansk, centres of an uprising that has unleashed the worst crisis between the West and Russia since the Cold War.

For a vote on which so much hangs, the referendum in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, which has declared itself a "People's Republic", seems a decidedly ad hoc affair.

Ballot papers have been printed with no security provision and the meaning of the question - asking voters if they support state 'self-rule' for the People's Republic of Donetsk - is, perhaps deliberately, unclear.

Deadly clashes: a woman looks at a burned Ukrainian government tank on Saturday after fighting in the city of Mariupol. Photo: Getty Images

The eastern uprising followed the toppling in February of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, whose pursuit of ties with Moscow stirred mass protests by pro-Western activists in Kiev.

Ukrainian forces have been striking back with shows of force especially in Mariupol, an important industrial and shipping centre. The interior ministry said 20 rebels were killed in fighting there on Friday, while hospitals put the number of dead at seven.

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Russia denies Western and Ukrainian accusations it has fostered the rebellion. It portrays the Kiev government as hostage to violent anti-Russian nationalists, intent on rooting out the culture and language of the Russian-speaking east.

Mr Turchynov is attempting to bring eastern political forces into a round table to discuss federal devolution, but says he will not deal with rebel leaders with blood on their hands.

He said secession from Ukraine "would be a step into the abyss for these regions . . . Those who stand for self-rule do not understand that it would mean complete destruction of the economy, social programs and life in general for the majority of the population."

The loss of Ukraine's coal and steel belt, which accounts for some 16 per cent of national GDP, would be a severe loss for Kiev.

"A dreadful terror is in train with the support of a large part of the local population," Mr Turchynov said. "It is a complex problem when a population deceived by [Russian] propaganda support terrorists."

Sunday's vote is going ahead despite a call by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to postpone it - a move that briefly raised hopes for an easing of tension. Western leaders criticised as "provocative" a trip Mr Putin made to Crimea on Friday.

"We are disappointed that the Russian government has not used its influence to forestall these referenda since President Putin's suggestion on May 7 that they be postponed, when he also claimed that Russian forces were pulling back from the Ukrainian border," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Saturday.

"Unfortunately, we still see no Russian military movement away from the border, and today Kremlin-backed social media and news stations encouraged residents of eastern Ukraine to vote tomorrow, one even offering instructions for polling stations in Moscow. Russian state media also continue to strongly back the referenda with no mention of Mr Putin's call for postponement."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said they would back further sanctions against Russia - including in energy, defence and financial services - if Ukraine's May 25 presidential election failed to go ahead because of disruption in the east.

But at his meeting with Dr Merkel in Germany, Mr Hollande said the sale of two Mistral warships to Russia will continue "for now".

On Thursday, the US again voiced concern about the €1.2 billion ($1.79 billion) sale of the warships.

"We have regularly and consistently expressed our concerns about this sale even before we had the latest Russian actions and we will continue to do so," Assistant Secretary for Europe Victoria Nuland told US legislators ahead of a visit next week to Washington by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

In the rebel bastion of Slaviansk, most roads were blocked off with barricades of felled trees, tyres and old machinery.

Nikolai Mikolaichuk, a businessman who had paid out of his own pocket to buy materials to build voting booths, was overseeing their construction in the town's Lenin Palace of Culture.

"Everyone here is volunteering in their own way. No one's being paid . . . This referendum is for all of us," he said. "The Donetsk People's Republic is going to be its own country, with its own government, laws, even an Olympic team."

Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the rebel "mayor" of Slaviansk, said he expected a 100 per cent turnout in the referendum.